solicitor general under president george w. bush. a very skilled courtroom litigator, argued a lot of cases in front of the u.s. supreme court, so a good partner for paul ryan, being able to think on his feet in a moment's notice to challenge the responses. he's also reviewing joe biden's previous debates and speeches. joe biden's been an elected official for 40 years, so he has a lot of experience under his belt and he's memorized some stats and phrases that paul ryan might be able to use. obviously, in a debate like that, 90 minutes long, you want to give as much information in the shortest amount of time as possible and that's what paul ryan is doing. he has a beautiful day to prepare, but we believe he's in the hotel preparing for this debate in 48 hours, thomas. >> we'll be watching. ron mott traveling with congressman ryan. thank you so much, appreciate it. >>> so, what will it take to win the vp debate and the presidential debate one week from now? joining me is political science professor samuel popkin, author of "the candida